


Free

by Aarashi



Category: One Piece
Genre: East Blue, Freedom, Gen, Going Merry - Freeform, Memories, Nightmare, Sea, Trauma, Vinsmoke Family - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 13:24:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aarashi/pseuds/Aarashi
Summary: Some memories are hard to erase. Sanji knows that. When they come back, he just waits. He also knows he is not alone anymore.





	Free

It was dark and he was alone.

He knew that place. He did not know why or how he had ended up there, but he wanted to get out. He was afraid. He did not want to be alone. He felt a strange pressure in his head and he realized he was wearing a helmet. He tried to take it off, but he could not. He felt his breathe fastened, the tears burning in his eyes. He did not want to cry again. His brothers laughed when they saw him cry.

But he was so afraid.

And he did not want to be alone.

Sanji opened his eyes only to see more darkness around him. He sat up so brusquely that he felt dizzy. His breathing was nearly a pant. He was in the dark. He was confined. He had to get out.

A sudden swinging surprised him and he had to grasp the hammock. He realized what he was holding. Those were not iron bars, they just were strings. There was no helmet in his head. And that rumor he heard was the whisper of the waves.

He was not in a cell. He was in the sea.

Sanji stopped fighting with the hammock and sat up straight, slowly.

 _It’s okay_ , he thought, though it clearly was not.

His shirt was wet, he could feel the cold sweat that was covering his body. He was trembling without control.

_Damn it. Why now?_

It had been quite a while since the last time he had suffered that kind of nightmares, since the last time he had thought about them. Why now, of all times? Why now, when he had finally started to pursue his dream?

Sanji forced himself to move. He got down of the hammock and he nearly fell. Usopp and Luffy were still sleeping, judging by their snoring. Still panting, Sanji climbed to the deck.

An air cold seeped in through his shirt and he shivered. He approached to the rail, put a cigarette in his mouth and took a deep breath. Then he exhaled.

The smoke rose in front of his eyes before getting lost in the night. There was nothing at sight but the immense blue ocean. More than the cigarette, that calmed him. After all, it was the sea what had put distance between him and hell. It was the sea what had saved him. It was the sea what he was looking for.

Sanji breathed again. It was hard to escape from his memories.

He sensed a movement above him. As he was in a rush, he had not realized it before, but now he remembered Zoro was on watch that night. The swordsman did not say anything, though, and Sanji did not either. He soon forgot he was there.

Sanji stood still for a while, his eyes searching for somewhere beyond that ocean. He focused on that. He ignored the images that tried to cross his mind. He ignored the phantom of the pressure he felt in his head. He ignored the cold of his hands while he kept hold of those metal bars. It had nothing to do with him. It was not him anymore.

But still it was hard.

Something fell over his shoulder. Sanji said nothing when he heard Zoro approaching to the rail. He caught the blanket and adjusted it over his shoulders. In other circumstances he would have thrown it back to the swordsman’s face, but the night was cold and he was covered in sweat. He still felt his body trembling.

Sanji thought how he would look like. Maybe as someone who had woken up after a bad dream. If it was only that, it would not be that bad.

“Nostalgic already?”

He managed to compose a smile.

“Not exactly”.

Zoro held his gaze; then let his head rest in his hand, staring at the ocean. Sanji looked at him sideways.

“You can go to sleep, you know,” Sanji mumbled. “I’m staying awake for the rest of the night.”

“I’m in watch,” Zoro replied, still looking at the sea. “I’m not leaving.”

Sanji did not insist. They stayed in silent. The sea was calm. There was no ship nor island at sight. They could not see the horizon. Only the blue.

Sanji smiled and gave the cigarette another puff. They just waited.

By the time the sun rose, he felt free again.


End file.
